Photos: 18 things to know about Target in B.C.

Juanita Ng, Vancouver Sun08.23.2013

Target's B.C. stores are set to open this week and next. Here's the scoop about the brands that Target will carry, the groceries it will sell, the price point and more. Keep clicking to see 18 things to know about Target in B.C.Dave Chidley
/ Canadian Press

Target comes to Canada: The timeline
In 2012, Target announced plans to turn 124 Zellers stores into Target stores. The Minneapolis-based company has said it will spend about $10 million per store to upgrade and to expand the existing square footage where possible. However, on average the Canadian Target stores will be about 18 per cent smaller than its properties in the United States. Prior to making its move in 2010, Target had spent more than five years assessing a potential move in Canada. The expansion in Canada will cost the company $1.5 billion.'
/ facebook.com/targetcanada

Store openings
Ontario stores will open first; the retailer has named 24 locations in that province that will have a March or April opening, though no firm dates have been released yet.
>>In B.C., the following stores will have a spring 2013 opening: Campbell River (Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre), Coquitlam (Coquitlam Centre), Cranbrook (Tamarack Mall), Delta (Scottsdale Mall), Kamloops (Sahali Centre Mall), Prince George (Pine Centre), Langley (Willowbrook Shopping Centre), Nanaimo (Nanaimo North Town Centre), Vernon (Village Green Mall) and Victoria (Tillicum Centre).
>>Courtenay (Driftwood Mall) and Kelowna (Orchard Park Plaza) will have a summer 2013 opening.
>>The following stores will have a winter 2013 opening: Abbotsford (Abbotsford Power Centre), Burnaby (Metropolis at Metrotown), Chilliwack (Cottonwood Mall), Maple Ridge (Haney Place Mall), Richmond (Lansdowne Centre) and Surrey (Surrey Place/Central City). '
/ facebook.com/targetcanada

Pricing in Canada
How will Canadian prices compare to U.S. prices? Can Target really live up to its slogan of Expect More, Pay Less north of the border? Here's the bottom line: Price parity is not happening. But Tony Fisher, president of Target Canada, has said Target’s business model will be “incredibly competitive with the lowest-priced leaders in Canada.”
Canadian consumers have “low-priced benchmarks in their minds,” and they will be “pleasantly surprised” with the new Target stores, adds Livia Zufferli, marketing director of Target Canada. “It’s a different market to do business in, and different factors that impact pricing,” Zufferli said. “For us, it comes back to being as competitive as we can in the Canadian market.”'
/ facebook.com/targetcanada

Brands
At a glitzy launch party, Target - which is known for its buzzy celebrity collaborations - announced that its stores will carry a kitchenware line from Food Network star Giada de Laurentiis ...'
/ facebook.com/targetcanada

Designers
Expect to see a few Target-only designer lines. Target is known for its partnerships with haute couture designers on lower-priced lines - including Vancouver's Jason Wu, who is a favourite of U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama. When Target brought Wu to Toronto a year ago as part of a pop-up store event that featured items from his line, shoppers lined up around the block for a chance to snap up a few of his designs.'
/ blog.chron.com

Roots Outfitters collection
Clothing from Roots will also be available at Target for a limited time when the retailer comes to Canada. The Roots Outfitters collection, which includes fashions for women, men, boys, girls and toddlers, will be available from March until June.'
/ canada.roots.com

Athletic apparel
In addition to name brands, Target's workout wear offerings will include clothing from C9 by Champion, the chain's exclusive line of activewear and gear.'
/ target.com

Exclusive online-only brands
Target has six online-only brands. They include TOO by Blu Dot home décor ...'
/ target.com

Groceries
Sobeys, which operates 1,300 supermarkets in Canada (including IGA and Thrifty Foods stores in B.C.), will supply Target with select food and grocery products. Rural stores will rely more heavily on a large food component, and there’s no doubt that Target will impact Canadian food purchasing patterns. A recent report by BMO Capital Markets, reported in supermarketnews.com, found that Walmart stores have captured around 5.9 per cent of the Canadian grocery market since it first arrived in Canada in 1994.'
/ target.com

... as well as the chain's Archer Farms premium foods line.'
/ facebook.com/targetcanada

Starbucks
Some had speculated that Target would tap Tim Hortons to be its retail coffee partner in Canada, but the nod has gone instead to Starbucks. The coffee outlets will be located in most Target stores when they open north of the border, significantly increasing the coffee retailer’s presence in Canada, where it already has 1,130 locations.'
/ '

REDcard savings
Just like in the U.S., Canadian shoppers will be able to save five per cent at Target stores when they use their REDcard debit card. The same five-per-cent savings will be offered to shoppers who pay with a Target RBC MasterCard.'
/ target.ca

Price Match
Target's Price Match policy, which was previously in effect only over the Christmas holidays, is now available all year round and includes a seven-day price adjustment guarantee. Target will also match prices from a select group of online retailers including Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and Toysrus.com (including Babiesrus.com).
In this photo: An employee walks a wide isle at Amazon.com’s 1.2-million-square-foot fulfilment centre.Ross D. Franklin
/ AP

The effect on the competition
Target’s arrival in Canada means consumers will likely see changes at Sears Canada, Old Navy, Loblaw’s Joe Fresh brand and Canadian Tire, the stores indicated by Barclays Investment Bank as being the ones with the most at risk. Loblaw and Canadian Tire are working on new loyalty programs and both stores, as well as Shoppers Drug Mart and the Bay, have been cutting jobs, shaking up management and undertaking renovations in a bid to stay competitive. Sears, already in trouble in Canada, should be particularly worried; there is significant overlap with Target in its offerings, and 37 per cent of its stores are less than one kilometre away from a Target location, Barclays says.'
/ joefreshlife.com

And what about Walmart?
Walmart, which is also facing competition from dollar store chain Dollarama, has already lowered the prices of a number of items to about $1. The retailer also remodelled or opened 73 Canadian stores in 2012; Walmart now has more than 375 outlets in Canada, up from 333 at the end of January 2012 and 325 a year earlier.Ed Kaiser
/ Edmonton Journal

Advertising
Target Canada has had an active Facebook and Twitter presence for the past few months, but it made its Canadian television debut in a big and splashy way: During the Oscars telecast. The 60-second spot painted the Target brand as a friendly new neighbour, and featured a woman riding a motorcycle with the Target dog sitting in the sidecar, as the two scooted cross-country past numerous landmarks and events. Print advertisements will begin to appear next month in newspapers and on websites.'
/ facebook.com/TargetCanada

Profitability in Canada
Target has said it expects to generate at least $6 billion in annual sales in Canada by 2017, and that many of its Canadian stores are likely to be much more profitable than its average U.S. locations.

Customer profile
The typical Canadian shopper will look much like the typical U.S. shopper. “We expect our core Canadian guest profile will look quite similar to our U.S. profile: Young, active, well-educated and with children at home, ” said Michal Francis, the company’s chief merchandising officer. “We were pleased to learn that nearly 70 per cent of Canadians are already familiar with the Target brand. Eleven per cent have shopped our stores in the past year, and more than 30,000 are currently Redcard holders.”Natasha Fillion
/ Postmedia News

Staffing
Each Target store will employ 150 to 200 staffers; hiring began in 2012. Target Canada has also advertised for staff for its headquarters in Mississauga, Ont., in human resources, merchandising, health care, real estate, design and marketing among other areas. Target's Canadian headquarters will have more than 500 staffers by the time Target stores open this spring.'
/ facebook.com/targetcanada

Target, the American discount retailer, is giving select media a tour of their new store in Coquitlam today as the company gets set to soft-open 24 stores in Western Canada this week and next.

In all, the cheap-chic retailer will open 124 stores across Canada in five separate waves this year.

Target Canada president Tony Fisher is attending the Coquitlam event, and we'll have a full story shortly. But in the meantime, here's the scoop about the brands that Target will carry, the groceries it will sell, the price point and more.

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Photos: 18 things to know about Target in B.C.

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